Conductors may be used to transfer energy and/or information among various components. At times, multiple conductors may be arranged in parallel, such that each conductor in a sub-group is substantially parallel to the others, and spaced apart from its neighbors in a substantially flat, periodic, and linear fashion. Such conductor arrangements, including one or more sub-groups, will be referred to collectively hereinafter as “parallel conductors”. Thus, a parallel conductor may include one or more sub-groups of conductors, wherein the conductors in one sub-group may not be spaced apart from each other by the same distance as conductors included in another sub-group. Examples include, but are not limited to, any type of linearly grouped conductors, whether of substantially the same type, such as “FLEX-LITE™ cable” having fiber optic conductors (e.g., W.L. Gore and Associates #FOA 8100/1/10/2), “ribbon cable” having electrical conductors (e.g., 3M Company #3302/10), and “flex-tape” having conductors which may be attached to a flexible substrate (e.g., Elmec Manufacturing #R24-1.5-.100-16-.187T), or of different types (e.g., a group having sub-groups of both fiber optic and radio frequency conductors).
When parallel conductors are used with components that have ports or contacts spaced to match the linear spacing of the individual conductors (e.g., a connector designed to be crimped onto a particular type of ribbon cable), the conductor end-points line up directly with the ports/contacts, and the desired series of connections can easily be made. However, if the contact/port spacing does not match the spacing of conductors in a parallel conductor, a problem arises. For example, when the contact spacing on a die is greater than the trace conductor spacing of available flex-tape, then the tape is typically “fanned-out” to match the die contact spacing, significantly increasing the cost of the tape. Thus, there is a need for apparatus, systems, and methods that can be used to match parallel conductor spacing to various components that have non-matching port/contact spacing.